***(Update - Part 2 with responses from Greg Koch, Joe Mohrfeld, and Matt Thrall is here)***The growler has been a loyal companion of mine ever since attending that first Colorado party where someone brought this 64oz vessel of fresh beer straight from the brewery. I thought the concept was perfect, a reusable large container for transporting the freshest beer to my house straight from the brewery. For the past decade I've collected dozens of growlers and enjoyed surprising friends with fresh and/or rare treats from breweries across the country. I thought everyone loved growlers and enjoyed their delicious contents until earlier this week when I read an article entitled Why Beer Growlers are Bad for your Brew. I was pretty surprised by this one sided pretty biased article so I decided to do some research on the subject. Join me as we embark on a journey of growler history and explore the different opinions on the growler's role in enjoying fresh beer in this two part series.
Part 1: The history of the Growler
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| Image from Jess Kidden |
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| Image from Jess Kidden |
named from the growling sounds the pail would make as CO2 escaped through the lid. Others believe it’s the rumbling stomachs of the workers in anticipation for their beer during breaks. Another theory suggests that it was the constant conflict between the bartender only filling the growler half full and the customer wanting a full pour of beer, causing the “growling”.
Children were employed by their parents or workers in the community to buy growlers and deliver then home or to the workplace during lunch breaks. This practice was coined “rushing the growler”. This practice was abolished thanks to the Prohibition.
During the 50’s and 60’s, waxed cardboard containers were used for beer transport. These containers eventually leaked, but most of the time the beer was consumed before any accidents. The purchase of these containers was especially popular on Saturdays due to the closing of liquor stores on Sundays. As states started allowing liquor stores to open on Sundays, these containers eventually disappeared.
In the early 1980’s, Newman Brewing out of Albany, New York, sold soft plastic gallon containers of their beer. They would refill the containers if one brought them back to the brewery.
The advent of the modern day growler started in 1989 by Otto Brothers Brewery in Wilson, Wyoming. The brewery was not yet bottling their beer but wanted to give their customers a means of bringing their beer home with them. Father Otto suggested the use of “growlers” that he remembered from his childhood. They decided on glass “moonshine” jugs, slapped their logo on the jug, and the rest is history. They changed the name of their brewery to Grand Teton Brewing in 2000.
The growler has not changed much since in the last 20+ years. Most growlers are 64oz. glass jugs of brown glass with a white metal twist off cap. Some breweries use clear class. A few places will even make growlers with blue and green glass. There are also rounded 2 liter versions with clampdown ceramic tops like those used at Stone Brewing and Russian River Brewing in California. Some have fancy metal handles like those used at Pikes Peak Brewing in Monument, Colorado. A few breweries such a Bonfire Brewing in Eagle, Co, and Stone Brewing have started using stainless steel “canteens” or “flasks”.
Part II in this series will discuss the benefits and disadvantages of the growler and will also look into possible alternatives.
Resources:
The advent of the modern day growler started in 1989 by Otto Brothers Brewery in Wilson, Wyoming. The brewery was not yet bottling their beer but wanted to give their customers a means of bringing their beer home with them. Father Otto suggested the use of “growlers” that he remembered from his childhood. They decided on glass “moonshine” jugs, slapped their logo on the jug, and the rest is history. They changed the name of their brewery to Grand Teton Brewing in 2000.
The growler has not changed much since in the last 20+ years. Most growlers are 64oz. glass jugs of brown glass with a white metal twist off cap. Some breweries use clear class. A few places will even make growlers with blue and green glass. There are also rounded 2 liter versions with clampdown ceramic tops like those used at Stone Brewing and Russian River Brewing in California. Some have fancy metal handles like those used at Pikes Peak Brewing in Monument, Colorado. A few breweries such a Bonfire Brewing in Eagle, Co, and Stone Brewing have started using stainless steel “canteens” or “flasks”.Part II in this series will discuss the benefits and disadvantages of the growler and will also look into possible alternatives.
Resources:
https://sites.google.com/site/jesskidden/thegrowler -This is a great resource by Jess Kidden. I got most of my historic pictures from this site.
I love my growlers and collect them. Pikes Peak Brewing does have the coolest of the growlers, but I can't get them filled anywhere else because they are missing the govt warning :( Got my Sam Choi Hawaii growler that is pretty cool too. I love the ones with the Grolsch-style pop tops, they keep the beer the longest I find. -Crematia
ReplyDeleteI was just in NYC last week. A lot of grocery stores, beer stores, and even small boutique convenience stores had beer on tap that you could pour into a growler. Most sold them in what looked like 32oz growlers. This was really interesting to me because here in Colorado you are only legally allowed to fill up a growler in the place where the beer is made. Not only that but you have to use a growler that is from that brewery. This was not the case in NYC. This allowed beer places to buy bulk quantities of beer and have a bulk price for it too. I was very surprised at how many people were doing this, even in a bottle shop that had one of the most amazing selections of beer bottles I've seen in a long time.
ReplyDeleteI think (as anonymous referred to) if there is a government warning on the jug a brewery can fill it, regardless of the original purchase location. But I would love to see non-brewery growler filling stations in Colorado. think of the selection possibilities, the convenience, the joy!
ReplyDelete